In Ishayas’ Ascension, we often discuss how powerful the mind is…that the mind is capable of anything. A review of some of the latest studies on Placebos is just another example of the power of the mind – and evidence that the power seems to be increasing!

As many know, a placebo is a non-active substance or procedure required in clinical trials by the FDA as at least one of the control groups. The placebo effect is a documented fact working 18-80% of the time. The effect is physical, not just subjective - healing ulcers, warts disappearing, relieving pain, easing symptoms of many stress related illnesses, etc.

One of the leaders in the field of placebo research, Fabrizio Benedetti, a neuroscience professor at the University of Turin School of Medicine and member of the Placebo Study Group centered at Harvard, recently wrote: “The placebo effect has evolved from being thought of as a nuisance in clinical pharmacological research to a biological phenomenon worthy of scientific investigation in its own right.”

In one survey by the NIH, as many as half of rheumatologists and internists surveyed said they had intentionally given patients ineffective medication [placebo] in the hopes it would have a positive result.

Joel Block, MD, a well-known osteoarthritis specialist says “The placebo effect is still an effect and a very important one….It is “extraordinarily strong” in osteoarthritis for reasons that aren’t entirely clear. The experience from randomized trials shows a 40% response rate. The trial data indicates that placebo responses last beyond a year, he said.

Kaptchuk, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS) is a man with a fierce intellect and curiosity. His researchers enrolled 80 people suffering from irritable bowel syndrome, explaining the experiment while framing it positively -- they called it a novel "mind-body" therapy.Half the patients were given a bottle with the word "placebo" printed on it. They were told the bottle contained “sugar pills”. The patients were told they didn't even need to believe in the placebo effect, but had to take the pills twice daily. The other half were given no treatment at all. At the end of the three-week trial, 59 percent of the patients taking the placebo said their symptoms had been adequately relieved!

"We were all taken aback," Kaptchuk said. "We triple-checked the data before we decided it was real."A study published online Oct. 27, 2016, by PLOS Biology showed evidence of changes in the brain during a placebo effect. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, researchers scanned the brains of people with chronic pain from knee osteoarthritis. After being given the placebo, everyone received another scan. For those who felt pain relief, researchers noticed greater activity in the middle frontal gyrus brain region, which makes up about one-third of the frontal lobe.

The body is continually listening to our thoughts. If we live with self-defeating thoughts, the mind produces in kind. It is only our habitual thoughts that steal our youth and health and replace them with sickness. Imagine if we could learn to still the internal chatter and learn to experience life again in the present moment?

The purpose of Ishayas’ Ascension is to erase those self-defeating thoughts and allow us to live life in freedom. Are you ready to activate a new effect in your life?